Verbatim: Jan. 29, 2007

"We knew he would be executed and would join a parade of heroes, but, Maliki, why did you behead him? Why did you insult his body?"

SALAM AL-TIKRITI, relative of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, asking Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki why Saddam Hussein's former secret-police chief was decapitated during his hanging, an accidental result of the rope's being too long

"For me, the word 'responsibility' is very significant. My concept of responsibility is what led me to remain in my position until this point and to place this letter on your desk today."

LIEUT. GENERAL DAN HALUTZ, Israel's military commander, in a resignation letter announced Jan. 17, explaining why he stepped down after the army's failure to defeat Hizballah in Lebanon last summer

"We thought it was going to be easy."

JAMES YBARRA, contestant in a California radio show's water-drinking contest called "Hold your wee for a Wii"--named for the prize, a new Nintendo game machine--after a fellow contestant, a 28-year-old mother of three, died of water intoxication. The show has been taken off the air, and several of its employees have been fired

"The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over."

NANCY PELOSI, Speaker of the House, after banning the age-old practice of smoking in the Capitol lobby. Smoking is, however, still allowed in Representatives' private offices and other places on Capitol Hill, including a cafeteria in the Senate building

"Play that funky music, white girl."

TONY SNOW, White House press secretary, after the cell phone of ABC News chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz, 53, began playing a downloaded refrain from Chamillionaire's Ridin' during a press conference

Sources: Washington Post; AP (3); White House